I'm going to tell you guys something embarrassing.

I am one of those white people who probably swings like a pendulum between what i say about racism and how i act. Like on a given day, i can't honestly guarantee which piece of the pie people are going to get.

The inconsistencies trouble me a lot. I don't know if it's a personal problem, like mood swings or tiredness, or loneliness and lack of identity, or simply a surplus or deficit of empathy for specific types of people on a given day.

This probably makes me one of the worst types of whites. It is awful to not know how racist one leans.

Sort of like battle hardening, ie whether a soldier has experienced actual violence - racist behavior definitely follows the same principles.

Wanting to please one's group, find an identity, to be humorous or accepted. There are probably as many reasons for why as there are flavors of ice cream.


It's an issue that needs close scrutiny.
I understand part of President Obama's reaction to some of it was dignified non acknowledgment.

But the thing with the West Virginia mayor and the aide from his county who got caught calling Mrs. Obama "an ape in high heels".

It's actually very sad. Michelle Obama is no shrinking violet. She has tried to be visible and active as first lady. It is almost as if the public takes out its hatred of both Obamas mostly on his wife. I think that is low, below the belt, despicable and wrong.


Rules of engagement are the only thing preventing total war. If people want to see America devolve into total war like some dark ages joke, then keep telling stupid stories on Facebook and other globally visible media.

It's almost as if these WV folks in the articles regarding the "ape" comment don't care that they are part of the world as a whole.

I used to work in West Virginia so I'm extra disappointed and sad that so close to the changing of the guard, people would stick foot in mouth so bad.

Work ethic and self worth are not a racial thing.
Those are individual values.

It is so easy to be one of those racists who just slips one day and in a moment of tiredness or anger, picks on the weaker links of society.

What we really don't need in America is people who thrive on cruelty and keeping weak people helpless. I think it is ok to make an occasional mistake or joke, but really???

A mayor. A county employee. Telling the exact same jokes people laughed at 8 years ago in World of Warcraft. I can't say that i didn't abuse the anonymity too. I had a bank alt in the game called "Firstmonkey". I felt fucking horrible about it too, because people laughed.


I guess a useful talent in America would be knowing how to be funny without being cruel.

Look, even Glenn Beck is scared:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/15/politics/ ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(CNN)Nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck said Tuesday that the alt-right movement is "truly terrifying," adding that while leading Breitbart News, Stephen Bannon gave a voice to white nationalists.

"He has given a voice and power to that group of people," Beck told Anderson Cooper on "AC360." "You don't empower people like that. You just don't. It's not smart."
The alt-right movement has been accused of white nationalism, racism, misogyny and anti-Semitism. In July, Bannon told Mother Jones that his site had become "the platform for the alt-right."

Beck refused to say whether Donald Trump should rescind Bannon's appointment as the chief strategist and senior counselor within his administration.

"We have to have a discussion aside from politics about this small group of people and how this European and really pro-Russian nationalism is seeping into our country," Beck said.

Beck believes the majority of Trump voters are not part of the alt-right movement, but says "they are being influenced without knowing it."

"I just saw a new study today that said 5% of people who voted for Donald Trump said there were some disturbing things said in the media, but they didn't believe them," Beck said. "If they would have believed them, they would have voted for Hillary Clinton or against Donald Trump. We have this lack of transparency, honesty, integrity and this message about the alt-right must be heard by the conservatives. They must take it seriously."

Trump, you better not fuck this up... lol

Someone on the Alex Jones show I think it was said that many states who had voted for Obama in previous elections voted for Trump. And someone in a recent Earth Soul Group video mentioned how someone on social media was asked why he voted for Trump, and he answered "because he is a man". The person asking got very upset, but then the man said: "I was just kidding. I wanted to show how silly it is to vote for someone just because of gender." To be fair to Hillary Clinton all previous Presidents have been men, the problem was that Hillary appeared more hawkish than Trump in the race.

I agree! It could be exaggerated but I saw her sort of like, card player dealing away lives for winnings. Her track record speaks louder than any goose honking from Mr Trumps side of the ring. Her career cries foul. Lol

Here's an absolutely amazing article on this huge issue written from the perspective of a middle class African American Army officer:


http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/11/ ... ssing.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TRUMP TRANSITION
Why I find the black community's response to Trump's election a little embarrassing
Jeremy Hunt
By Jeremy Hunt
Published November 19, 2016
FoxNews.com

My father grew up in Atlanta during the late 60s and 70s surrounded by fellow blacks. From elementary school to Howard University, where he obtained his undergraduate and law degrees—everyone looked like him.

His childhood room boasted a giant black power fist on the wall in the Pan-African colors of red, black, and green. As a disciple of Louis Farrakhan, he believed deeply in the strength, dignity and self-reliance of his people. He embodied what it meant to be Black and Proud.

His conversion to Christianity and subsequent work as a pastor eventually caused him to discard Farrakhan’s views (thank God!), but he retained his belief that blacks are capable and resilient.

By extension, my siblings and I were raised never to think of ourselves as victims. While we were taught to love our white friends, we didn’t look to them to rescue us or solve our problems. If we encountered racism, we were taught to either address it through proper channels (if necessary), but more commonly—we moved on. Racism was beneath us. That’s why I can’t help but find the black response to Trump’s election a little embarrassing.

Emphasizing our “fears” as middle-class blacks does a disservice to our brothers and sisters enduring existential struggles in poor neighborhoods around the country. Our struggles are simply not life-threatening like theirs. They are hurting, badly.

This election ushered in a plethora of alarmist headlines conveying the image of minorities cowering in terror. “Why Donald Trump’s Victory Terrifies Some of Your Ethnic Minority Friends,” “Many Minorities Frightened of What a Trump Presidency Means for Them,” and my favorite “I’m Young, Black, and Male. I Live in Fear of a Trump Presidency.” Initially, I assumed that most of us would be concerned about Trump’s policies towards low-income black communities. Indeed, that’s what his “new deal” is all about. I thought that such a concern would—at least—lead to a productive conversation about policy.

The more I read, however, the more I realize that our fear has little to do with the most vulnerable among us and everything to do with middle class black struggles. If the articles I read (or my Facebook and Twitter feed) are any indication, it seems that we are most afraid of encountering newly-emboldened whites who will say racist things to us. Many of us, myself included, have already experienced the racial slurs and insensitive remarks that seem to be inspired by Trump’s election. Racism is painful, no doubt. But it should never cause us to fear, nor should it be the primary concern of the black community writ large.

Just fifty years ago, our people were bravely marching for our freedom while facing the threat of bombings, lynchings, and ruthless beatings. Are we—predominantly middle-class blacks—now going to cower in fear of a few racial slurs? And for those who think the latter a precursor to the former: the people making insensitive remarks in your workplace are not the same people who would burn a cross on your lawn.

As Nikole Hannah-Jones explained recently, “while we tend to talk about racism in absolute terms — you’re either racist or you’re not — racism and racial anxiety have always existed on a spectrum.” Those who make offensive remarks about black men killed by police don’t necessarily come from the KKK side of the spectrum. We shouldn’t be afraid of them; we have endured far worse.

Emphasizing our “fears” as middle-class blacks does a disservice to our brothers and sisters enduring existential struggles in poor neighborhoods around the country. Our struggles are simply not life-threatening like theirs. They are hurting, badly. As of this month, the black unemployment rate at 8.6 percent is almost double the national average and close to the rate that whites experienced at the depths of the Great Recession. And although blacks make up only 13 percent of the U.S. population, we account for half of the homicide victims in the United States (and also 52 percent of the perpetrators). We will survive being called a racial slur; many of them won’t survive the homicide epidemic.

Discussing racism doesn’t necessarily translate into black progress. Imagine a world without racism. If all people were magically endowed with completely enlightened views on race, our interactions with whites would be more comfortable—but this wouldn’t necessarily lower the number of black children born into poverty.

I’m not saying that we should stay silent on issues of race. But it is misguided to highlight our middle-class plight and then mention low-income communities as a footnote. National attention is a zero-sum game; maybe those of us with college degrees living in safe neighborhoods are focusing a little too much of the conversation on ourselves.

My biggest concern about Trump’s presidency is its potential to push us further into the self-destructive mindset of victimhood culture.

Sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning note that in victimhood culture, “victimization [is] a way of attracting sympathy, so rather than emphasize either their strength or inner worth, the aggrieved emphasize their oppression and social marginalization. ”

To be “Black and Proud” is not about self-pity and fear; it is about resilience and resistance.

Our ancestors survived the Middle Passage, slavery, segregation and Jim Crow.

We will survive a Trump presidency, whatever it may bring.


Jeremy Hunt is a U.S. Army officer and Leadership Strategist for the Douglass Leadership Institute. The views expressed in this article are those of Jeremy C. Hunt only and not those of the Department of Defense. Follow him on Facebook @jeremy.c.hunt1.


......................

Long story short, heat is heat no matter where it comes from and we're all flammable, pretty much.